Is it selfish wanting a friend to live?

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Is it selfish to want a friend to live, if they have had enough of their life? My friend said that she wished her illness killed her. This really upset me, I had tears in the eyes and had to try very hard not to cry, I was at work and this would not have been good.

If anything happened to her or any of my friends I would be so upset. Am i being selfish because of this?

Android

There was an episode of MAUDE where her husband tried to kill herself, and she stopped him, and said exactly that. "I'm selfish."

That's not a bad thing, when you think about it. My father shot himself when I was 4. As an adult, I can forgive, understand, etc., but would you tell a four year old he was wrong to be selfish to want his father to live?

I don't really consider it to be selfish. At least not in the same sense as not wanting to share ____ with others.

Even if it is, except for in rare circumstances it would be hard to see (at least for me) how wanting the person to keep on living wouldn't in at least some way be wanting something good for them as well. (eh...wording / interpretation problem. By "for them" I meant the person that wanted to die.)

It would be something to worry about if you didn't feel that way. Hang in there man.

Why is your friend unhappy? Try and stimulate her as much as possible so she realizes life is worth living even with the illness! Do all kinds of things; don't give her time to get depressed!

No, it isn't selfish at all.

Tim

In the end, what does it matter.
selfish is just a word

selfish would depend not only on what you want but why you want it.

probably there is some degree of selfishness, you like your friends so you want your friend to be with you.

there are unselfish feeling involved though if you want your friend to live so that she can experience and enjoy life. this one isnt selfish bc its not something that you would experience or benefit from directly.

so like most feelings theres a mixture of whats going on

selfish is not bad. people need to look out for themselves bc thats what everyone else is assuming that you are doing anyways. if you only look out for other people expecting to recieve some looking out for in return you may be sadly dissapointed.

No you are not selfish. But let your friend know how much you care and how devasting it would be if you lost this friend. I went to a funeral of a person who comitted suicide. I think if he realised the devastation his suicide would cause towards others, then I think he wouldn't have done it. To see his mom screaming and hugging his coffin was horrible to see. To see the pain his friends felt, plus their guilt.....way to sad. You are lucky your friend said something, that was a cry for help. This young man said nothing. Just went home from school, took out his dads gun and shot himself in the head. No note, no signs of anything wrong. Horrible.